STEWART MILNE has warned that failure to deliver a proposed new £40m stadium and training complex by the start of the 2019/20 season would place Aberdeen in “a very difficult situation” as there is no Plan B.
The chairman of the Pittodrie club sees the plan for a site at Westhill, to the west of the city, as an essential component of the city's regeneration programme following the signing of a city/region deal with the Scottish and Westminster governments and admits the club are banking on this latest attempt to find a new home coming to fruition.
“We have come through the best part of 40 years benefiting from the North Sea on our doorstep," said Milne. “We haven't done nearly enough in terms of delivering major infrastructure for this city but the council has worked very hard to get a city deal in place that will to start to deliver things that this city is lacking.
"I think there is recognition from everyone that a stadium and top-class training facilities for the football club are an essential part of the infrastructure for the whole of the region.
“Ideally, we would like to see ourselves getting on the ground with the soccer academy in the first half of 2018 and the ideal timescale for the stadium, would be 2019/2020.
“There is no plan B. If we reach 2020 without plans for a stadium on the ground then this club will be in a very difficult situation.”
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